A Spotsylvania County man with a valid concealed-weapon permit died after a semi-automatic pistol without an external safety discharged as he tried to adjust the weapon, which was tucked into his waistband, investigators have concluded.

The 45-year-old man was sitting in the front seat of his family’s minivan in a shopping center parking lot on Sunday when his .40-caliber Glock discharged, authorities said.

“For some reason, maybe for comfort, he reached out and went to adjust it,” said Spotsylvania sheriff’s Capt. Liz Scott. “The detective thinks that in doing so — in just grabbing it — he inadvertently grabbed the trigger.”

After weeks of stonewalling by the Department of Justice, a clearer picture of what its top officials knew about BATFE’s Operation Fast and Furious, and when they knew it, is slowly beginning to emerge.

On Tuesday, Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism about his knowledge of BATFE’s gunwalking operations, and his support for gun control.

In April 2010, Breuer says, he knew that BATFE agents had allowed hundreds of guns to be illegally purchased and smuggled to Mexican drug cartels in 2006 and 2007 as part of Wide Receiver, a Tucson-based operation similar to Fast and Furious, which was hatched out of Phoenix. Nevertheless, nearly a year later, when BATFE was accused of allowing guns to walk in Fast and Furious, Breuer suggested that he was convinced to not consider the allegations seriously. “I recall that both the leadership of ATF and the leadership of the United States Attorney’s Offices in Arizona . . . were adamant about the fact that [gunwalking] was not, in fact, a condoned practice,” Breuer said. And as noted last week by the New York Times, last February the Justice Department sent a letter to Congress stating “A.T.F. makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transport into Mexico.”

Seeming to corroborate the 2007 date Breuer mentioned, the Associated Press reported today that a briefing paper prepared in 2007 for then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey “outlined failed attempts by federal agents to track illicitly purchased guns across the border into Mexico.” But why Breuer did not give more attention to the gunwalking claims made against Fast and Furious is as unclear to him as to the rest of the country. “I regret that in April of 2010 that I did not draw the connection between Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious,” Breuer said. “Moreover, I regret that even earlier this year, I didn’t draw that connection.”

When it became Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s turn to question Breuer, the zealous anti-gun crusader from California tried to shift the focus of the hearings from battling international crime to battling those of us who support the Second Amendment.

The exchange between the two gun control supporters speaks for itself.

Feinstein: Mr. Breuer, in June of this year, I received a letter from the ATF. . . stating that 29,284 firearms [were] recovered in Mexico in ’09 and 2010, and submitted to the ATF Tracing Center. With those weapons, 20,504, or 70 percent, were United States sourced. . . . Is it fair to say that 70 percent of the firearms showing up in Mexico are from the United States?

Breuer: Thank you, Senator, for the question, and for your leadership on this issue. . . . Of the 94,000 weapons that have been recovered in Mexico, 64,000 of those are traced to the United States. We have to do something to prevent criminals from getting those guns, Senator. . . .

Feinstein: . . . .“[W]e have very lax laws when it comes to guns. . . . And so the question comes, do you believe that if there were some form of registration when you purchase these firearms that that would make a difference?

Breuer: I do, Senator. . . . Today, Senator, we are not even permitted to have ATF receive reports about multiple sales of long guns, of any kind of semiautomatic weapon or the like. . . . Very few hunters in the United States or sports people and law-abiding people really need to have semiautomatic weapons or long guns. . . .”

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has been co-leading Congress’ investigation of Fast and Furious with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), disagreed with Feinstein’s and Breuer’s claim that 70 percent of guns seized in Mexico come from the United States. “I released a report that I would like to ask be made a part of the record,” Senator Grassley said. “It refutes the numbers referenced early that 70 percent of the guns in Mexico came from the U.S. The answer isn’t to clamp down on law abiding citizens or gun dealers.”

While Mr. Breuer’s testimony shined a glimmer of light on who knew what and when they knew it, about the BATFE’s most disastrous operation since the 1993 Waco raid, it obviously did not, nor was it intended to, lead Congress or the American people to a proper understanding of how many firearms have been smuggled to Mexico without BATFE’s help, since the Mexican drug cartels began waging war on their country. As has already been reported, many of the “guns traced to the U.S.” from Mexico were seized in that country many years ago, but have been only recently submitted for tracing at the urging of the BATFE. And to complicate things further, Mexican officials have acquiesced to BATFE’s urgings by submitting multiple trace requests on single guns.

Yesterday, state Representative Rick Kriseman (D-St. Petersburg) withdrew Local Bill 06, which would have attempted to get legislative approval to allow voters of Pinellas County to decide whether or not the county should abide by the state’s firearm preemption law. In effect, Rep. Kriseman wanted to find a way to allow Pinellas County to break the law without being punished.

Florida’s firearm preemption law has been in effect for twenty-four years. This law gives the Florida Legislature the sole authority to regulate firearms by preventing local governments from regulating your constitutional right to own, possess and lawfully use firearms. It puts a stop to the confusing patchwork of conflicting local firearm laws across the state, keeping law-abiding gun owners from becoming criminals while traveling throughout Florida.

On October 1, a new state law took effect that provides penalties for local governments and government officials who willfully and knowingly violate state law.

Thank you to all NRA members who contacted Pinellas County officials about this proposed infringement of your Second Amendment rights. Your voice truly made the difference!

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This week, the House Judiciary considered amendments to H.R. 822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Bill, and defeated all anti-gun amendments offered in an effort to weaken or gut the legislation.

The legislation is an important pro-gun reform that will provide for the recognition of carry permits in all states that issue permits.

The bill, as originally written, was successfully amended at the outset of the markup with a substitute that added a number of important protections. Foremost, it amended the language so that visitors to states that have laws requiring licenses just for possession of a handgun, do not need a possession license, which is often unavailable to nonresidents.

The substitute also made clear that in states with local jurisdictions that restrict carrying or possession, visitors will not need to apply for special permits from those jurisdictions.

Opponents of the bill proposed a number of anti-gun amendments that sought to use misdemeanor convictions to disqualify people from the benefits of the bill. All of these efforts were defeated, rejecting the anti-gun efforts to weaken the bill. Clearly, the majority of committee members believe that revocation of fundamental constitutional rights is not a legitimate punishment for misdemeanor violations.

One pro-gun amendment was defeated as well. Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas), a steadfast supporter of the Second Amendment, brought an amendment that would have allowed permit holders to carry firearms in the District of Columbia. As written, H. R. 822 does not apply reciprocity to jurisdictions that completely ban Right-to-Carry. While the amendment was well intentioned, as Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) pointed out, the bill “does not confer any expansion of the right to bear arms on the residents of the District of Columbia,” and the Gohmert amendment would only have benefited visitors. It was the feeling of the majority, including nearly all those who support the bill, that H. R. 822 is not the proper vehicle for dealing with the serious problems presented by Washington, D.C.’s harshly restrictive gun laws. As Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said, “this is a debate best saved for another day and another bill.” NRA has fought for many years to restore the Second Amendment rights of D.C. residents and will continue to work toward that goal by fighting for passage of H.R. 645, the Second Amendment Enforcement Act.

An amendment was also added calling on the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study of the impact of this legislation. Unsurprisingly, opponents of the bill voted against the amendment, probably fearing that it will show, like previous government and academic studies, that the many objections they make to lawful Right-to-Carry are without basis. The study will have no impact on the reforms included in the legislation and will have no effect on concealed carry laws. This study will not delay the implementation of the bill, because it will not take place until after the legislation has taken effect.

The committee will take up the legislation and vote on final passage when Congress returns from its recess. This legislation will be an important advance in the protection of the fundamental right to self-defense, whether at home or travelling through most of America.

Full House consideration of the legislation is expected to happen in the next few weeks. Please contact your member of Congress today and urge their support for H.R. 822 and opposition to any amendments anti-gun legislators are expected to bring to weaken the legislation. You can find contact information for your elected officials by using the “Write Your Representatives” tool at www.NRAILA.org, or you can call your U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121.

A Lake Maryman was arrested Monday after screeners at the Orlando International Airport found a handgun in his carry-on bag, a police report shows. David Freeman, 51, told authorities he forgot the loaded .380-caliber Ruger, which was found during a hand search of his leather business travel bag, according to the report. Freeman has a concealed-weapons permit and a state gun license, officials said. Nonetheless, Freeman was arrested about 6:30 a.m. on a charge of carrying a firearm in a place prohibited by law. The gun was confiscated as evidence. – From the Orlando Sentinel

WARNING: Don’t forget about your gun! “I forgot” will not get you out of trouble.

Unfortunately, not only do we have to continuously battle the ignorance and misrepresentation by our anti-gun opponents, but also by some so-called “pro-gun” organizations. This bill is GOOD for gun owners. This bill ENHANCES Americans’ right to self-defense by enabling millions of permit holders to exercise their right to self-defense while traveling outside their home states.

There is currently only one remaining state (Illinois) that has no clear legal way for individuals to carry concealed firearms for self-defense. H.R. 822 would require states to recognize each others’ lawfully issued carry permits, just as they recognize driver’s licenses and carry permits held by armored car guards.

These new laws help Florida concealed weapons permit holders because they keep anti-gun politicians at the local level from passing ordinances and laws that infringe on our Second Amendment rights. Its good to see lawmakers actually held to following the law for a change.

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – Authorities say a would-be victim pulled a gun and shot a man who tried to rob him in a restaurant parking lot in St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg police say the incident happened about 10:30 p.m. Sunday in the Applebee’s parking lot located on 4th Street North.

Police say Raven Smith and Lesley Tanner were exiting their vehicle to go into the restaurant when 17-year-old Anthony Hauser, wearing a ski mask and armed with a handgun, confronted Tanner.

Smith — who possesses a concealed weapons permit — drew his own handgun and fired at the suspect multiple times.